The present invention relates to a vehicle instrument cluster, and more particularly to a light guide assembly for an illuminated display.
An instrument cluster of a vehicle is traditionally located on a vehicle dashboard and includes several displays or dials that indicate various vehicle operating conditions. For example, an instrument cluster may include a speedometer, a tachometer, an engine condition indicator, and other known types of gauges. These gauges are illuminated to facilitate reading of information by the vehicle occupant.
Instrument clusters include a printed circuit board (PCB) with electronic components for controlling operation of the instrument clusters. Light sources, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), are typically mounted to the PCB. A light housing is used to contain the light produced by the light sources inside the instrument cluster and prevent unwanted light leakage. The instrument cluster further includes a display or dial on which the graphical image is formed or mounted.
The instrument cluster may include a light guide formed as a piece of clear material which channels the light received from the light source and redistributes the light over the display. In addition, light guides are known which are utilized to simultaneously illuminate the display and a pointer, which is moveable relative to the display to indicate the current status of the vehicle operating condition.
Disadvantageously, known light guides have not satisfactorily provided proper illumination of both the pointer and the display. The distribution of the light through the pointer and over the display often lacks uniformity. A shortage of light for illuminating the pointer may occur because a disproportional amount of light is reflected within the light guide to illuminate the display. Therefore, an increased number of light sources may be required to provide the desired uniform light distribution.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an improved light guide assembly for a vehicle instrument cluster that adequately provides uniform light distribution of both a pointer and a display of the instrument cluster.